02 May IKEA ON THE WAVE OF THE ‘LOW BUDGET HAPPY LIFE’ TREND

IKEA is becoming cheaper and is determined to let it know in a loud and witty way.

Under the shift to cautious spending, IKEA keeps adjusting its price to be more affordable and tries to play up to the increasingly frugal folks, including new graduates, young employees families, etc.

From the 9th to 14th of April, the iconic IKEA blue popped up at Taikoo Li Qian Tan in Shanghai, contrasting with the sparse luxury but quiet surroundings. This high-key landing aroused significant popularity, with numerous KOLs recording their visits and shared online.

The pop-up showroom was communicated as ‘精品店’ (jīng pǐn refers to the Boutique store) which implied a high-end position. However, IKEA played the Chinese text meme and it turned to be the ‘精打细算的好商品店’ (meaning Good merchandise on a meticulous budget) to highlight its big price reduction in China. Most of the displayed products were also on the ‘price-reduced list’, including the 9.9-yuan watering pot, large Risa storage basket priced at dozens of yuan, and other low-cost daily goods.

The IKEA BOUTIQUE STORE Pop-up in Shanghai, photos by @小九阿四 @赵小猹 from RED

By posting on RED with # I excel at living well on a budget 我超会过日子 and #IKEA Boutique store, the classic blue shopping bag will be offered. As of 19th April, views for each hashtag on RED have exceeded 26M and 4M respectively.

Red user @Freyaaf shares that the IKEA Pop-up is well discussed in the office and her colleagues feel released and confident to chill at Taikoo Li to visit the showroom without big spending. ‘

Behind its popularity, IKEA profoundly insights into the current demand of Chinese consumers for daily use: limited budget but uncompromising quality, which is highly aligned with the brand position and pricing strategy.  By August 2024, IKEA will increase the price-reduced SKU from the planned 300+ to 800+ products, while the price cuts are up to 20%.

The slogans with highlighted cut price hangs in IKEA, photos by @Handi from RED

In addition to the low prices, IKEA also highlights the living happiness and emotional values variously. In each store, there are slogans everywhere:  ‘Boosted happiness, shrunk bills 给幸福做加法，给账单做减法’, ‘Low cost but priceless satisfaction低价创造无价’, ‘Each hardworking individual deserves to be celebrated 每个努力生活的人都值得被照耀’, etc. Besides, IKEA also holds sleep trials in different cities, inviting people to spend nights in their demonstration rooms, which everyone imagined once. They were gaming, singing, and dining together, with good services provided.

The sleeping trial night at IKEA Changsha, photos by @古怪丹 @小蛋清sim from RED

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